by B. Stone

Created on: July 06, 2009

Whales are some of the most fascinating creatures on earth. They are profoundly enormous, intelligent, and beautiful. These behemoths roam the waters of our world from the arctic to the tropics. Along with them travel a handful of pesky, and sometimes fatal critters - whale parasites.

There are a wide variety of whale parasites - some are external, and others internal; some are harmless, and others quite dangerous; some are parasitic worms, and others small crustaceans, the 'insects of the sea'. Many parasite species have evolved with particular whale species; the existences of the largest and some of the smallest creatures bound together for thousands of years.

When envisioning a whale, rarely do we fail to include the strange white-grayish bumps on the surface of their otherwise smooth skin. These markings are in fact often used to identify individual whales by researchers, as no two parasitic designs are alike. They are caused by the most common and harmless of whale parasites - barnacles.

Barnacles are not true parasites as they do not feed on the whale itself, rather, they are the hitchhikers of the sea. Latching onto whales, often times young calves, barnacles gather food from their tiny fork-like feathers as they drift through the water. Barnacle larvae, which are themselves born to coincide with whale births, swim in the waters until it is time to 'stick' to their ride. They emit a glue-like substance, which is incredibly strong, lodging their head as a base, deep into the whale's second layer of skin. The barnacle gathers some of the skin into their armored home - six shell-like plates around the small creature itself, and another four to act as a portal. These small crustaceans remain on the same whale for years, but are sometimes shaken off when their host whale breaches or rubs against another whale, cutting short the potentially long relationship of parasite and great beast. Barnacles are primarily found on larger, slower whales, such as humpbacks, gray whales, and right whales, as well as sea turtles and the undersides of ships and docks. One humpback was found carting around one thousand pounds of barnacles, although on average one whale has a couple hundred pounds of this comfortable parasite. Although they do leave scars when dislodged, barnacles are harmless to their hosts.

Whale lice are also crustaceans. They are not true lice or bugs, but one of the 'insects of the sea'. Whale lice, also known as cyamids, are related to crabs, shrimp, and

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